Pawlenty Ad: Pushing for ‘Miracle on Ice’

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s new campaign ad targets two audiences with his new campaign ad: GOP primary voters, of course, but also pundits and reporters who say his campaign is on the ropes.

The 30-second spot, which started airing Wednesday night in Des Moines, uses footage from the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey game, when Team USA’s amateurs beat the Soviet Union, at the time considered the best team on Earth.

“You face an opponent experts say can’t be beat. You fight, you bleed, you prevail,” says Mr. Pawlenty, himself a hockey player, as he stands in front of an ice rink. “Our country’s down but we’re not out. To come back, we need a leader with a proven record, not just rhetoric.”

For a while, Mr. Pawlenty has argued that his experience running the North Star State — including during a government shutdown — makes him uniquely qualified to deal with the country’s fiscal problems. But the former governor is also undoubtedly talking to those who have said his campaign is in trouble. (Some, including Washington Wire, found it notable when Mr. Pawlenty announced he is planning to be at events in late September.)

Mr. Pawlenty has staked his campaign on performing well in Iowa — both at the Aug. 13 Iowa Straw Poll in Ames and at the Iowa caucuses early next year. The problem is that he has yet to convince the state’s social conservatives that he is better than Rep. Michele Bachmann, the other Minnesotan in the race who has surged in both state and national voter surveys.

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